Of Iglishmêk and Carpentry
by Bronwyn O'Reilly
Summary: Bilbo learns a little more in the ways of the Dwarves, and Kíli 'has gone and done something stupid again'. It's a Durin thing.


**Of Iglishmêk and Carpentry**

Bilbo Baggins considered himself a fairly decent teacher. He was patient when in the right mood, he knew how to explain things for different audiences and he considered himself intelligent enough to get his facts right. However, when Kíli had come up to him and asked him about the building of Bag End, he found that there seemed to be some sort of invisible barrier that he simply could not cross.

"Well, I inherited Bag End, so I don't know exactly how it was built, but the Gamgees – my neighbours – recently renovated their home, so I know the basics," he said, nudging his pony forward so that he was next to the brunette. "First you have to hollow out a small amount of the entrance, enough so that the weight won't collapse but you have somewhere to start off. Depending on what kind of timber you want the floor to be, you stabilise it with that timber. For example, pine."

Kíli frowned, brow furrowing in incomprehension. "Pine? What's that?"

Bilbo blinked, then blinked again. "Er…you don't know?"

Kíli shook his head, looking around them. "I take it it's a type of wood, but I can't place the tree."

"You know, rather tall, has needles, lots of branches…" Bilbo trailed off, seeing that his description wasn't helping. "How can you not know what a pine tree is?"

"Because he doesn't know that's what it's called," came a voice from his other side, and he whipped his head around to see Fíli watching them with amusement. The blond was leaning back almost insolently on his pony, who Bilbo gathered was called Red for some reason, eyeing Kíli with a touch of exasperation.

"You have a different name for it?" he asked.

Fíli shook his head. "No, no, we call it the same. This one," he jerked a thumb at his brother, "just has never bothered learning the name."

Kíli spoke up. "Oi, I'm right here, you know. Which tree are we talking about?"

Fíli made a few odd, expansive gestures with his hands and Kíli's face cleared. Bilbo looked between the two, shaking his head and resigning himself to the fact that there were some things he would never understand. "Is this the Dwarven sign language Balin was telling me about?"

Fíli chuckled. "No, Master Burglar, Kíli and I can't use Iglishmêk _that_ well. That is to say, we're proficient, but most of the words we know the Westron equivalent for. No, Kíli's just thick headed. Did you know, he used to talk so fast that not even I could understand him, and not only because half the words he used were made up?"

Bilbo jerked his head back, a small stone flying straight past his nose and bouncing Fíli on the head. "I did not!" was Kíli's indignant reply. "I had a perfectly good…whatsit."

"Vocabulary?"

"Yeah." Kíli went red and glared at his brother. "Anyway, Mister Baggins, go on. I know the tree."

Bilbo looked between the two then turned back to continue his explanation. "Yes, well. Where was I? Oh, yes, so they start off by stabilising where the front room is going to be. Then the builder will work in, I think, digging carefully into the hillside and propping the roof where necessary. I'm pretty sure they put up bearing walls at the same time."

"Bearing walls?" Kíli's tone was hesitant, as if he was embarrassed to ask. "Are they like…like supports?"

Bilbo nodded slowly, but before he could respond, Fíli made a few more of the odd little gestures and Kíli's face, once again, cleared into recognition. He shot a nod at his brother then looked to Bilbo. "Sorry. Go on."

This continued for a while, and Bilbo began to notice a pattern in what Kíli did and didn't understand. At most of the more common terms for either tools or procedures the Dwarf became confused, having to look to his brother for assistance. However, and this is what actually surprised Bilbo, at some of the more obscure names Kíli didn't bat an eyelid, sometimes even commenting on a better technique or make of tool.

An example would be that Kíli had no idea what a rafter was, but when Bilbo raised the topic of plumb bobs, a subject which he knew next to nothing on except for the fact that the Old Hobbit Gamgee had been having trouble with his, Kíli almost immediately launched into a description and short history of the device. This lead on to a discourse on levels, a tool Bilbo had never even heard of, but sounded immensely useful.

"They're still being improved on," Kíli said, gesturing back randomly to where the Shire was, probably meaning that the Dwarves were still working on them back in the Blue Mountains. "Karun, one of my friends, is trying to get it to work with alcohol. Can you believe that?" His laugh rang out, and more than a few heads turned briefly to glance at them. Bilbo waved awkwardly, and thought he saw Balin wink before the older Dwarf faced forwards.

Another stone whizzed past his nose, this time from the opposite direction and aimed at Kíli. It was clearly from Fíli, despite the innocent look on his face, and neither Dwarf nor Hobbit was fooled for a second.

"What was that for?" Kíli demanded, hand rubbing his nose. "I didn't do anything that time!"

Fíli raised an eyebrow, nodding to Bilbo. "You forget that Mister Baggins is a burglar, not a builder. Try to keep the enthusiasm a little lower, it's scaring him."

"Please, call me Bilbo," said the Hobbit in question. "And I don't mind either of you being enthusiastic as long as you stop throwing rocks at each other! Why, both times they've only just missed me!"

"Sorry." The blond dwarf didn't look it at all, and unless Bilbo was very much mistaken, he looked even smugger than he had before. Kíli just laughed, a low sound which brought glances once again.

"Why do they always look at you when you laugh?" he asked, curiousity getting the better of him.

"Because it's normally because we've done something they wouldn't approve of," Fíli replied. "Believe it or not, we really are the youngest by a good fifty years."

Bilbo blinked. "Fifty years? What about…Ori?" It took a while to remember all of the Dwarves' names, but he was getting there.

Kíli shook his head. "Nope. He's, what, fifty seven years older than Fíli? Fifty eight? Can't remember, don't know him that well. But look at his braids – in Dwarven culture, you get your first meaningful braid once you hit eighty. That's why I don't keep any yet, but Fíli does. He just looks little because he's small and wears knitted pullovers."

The more you know, thought Bilbo idly.

"So, what do Hobbits use for underpinning?"

Later, when they had stopped for the night, Bilbo approached Balin about this. The old Dwarf was very intelligent, if rather paternal, and seemed happy enough to explain things to Bilbo without mocking his ignorance.

"Ah, yes," he said, nodding his head slowly. "Those two have always had something of an odd way of communicating. Kíli didn't start talking properly, and by properly I mean intelligibly, until the age of ten or so. The only people who could understand anything he said were his parents, Náror and Dís, Fíli, and Thorin, although he had more slightly trouble. Good thing he picked up Iglishmêk quick enough, or it could have been worse."

"That's the sign language, isn't it?"

"Aye, it gets taught at the same time as speaking. Most Dwarves are as skilled at one as they are the other." Balin chuckled and stroked his beard thoughtfully. "And, like speaking, the vocabulary is extensive and grows as the learner does. Out of all of us, I should say Ori would be the best at standard Iglishmêk. Fíli and Kíli are both experts, except they tend to create signs that other Dwarves can't recognise. They're clever boys, but they can be surprisingly stupid when it comes to communicating with others."

Bilbo grinned. That made more sense than it ought. "Was Fíli similar?"

Balin frowned, as if dredging up old memories from a large drawer. "Not so much. He's quieter than his brother. He was able to speak entirely normally by about seven or so, if I recall correctly. He liked Iglishmêk a lot; he enjoyed making all sorts of expressions to go along with the gestures. That was what set Kíli off. There's only five years between them, you see, and Kíli learnt a lot from his brother. Dwalin was the same with me, when we were lads. He liked to do what I did, and so many of his behaviours were mimicked from mine."

"A bit different now, isn't it."

He chuckled. "Aye, a bit. But we both grew into our own people, went our own ways."

Bilbo decided that he quite liked Balin, and made a mental note to refer to him for advice in future situations.

With this knowledge in hand, he thought he was prepared to go up and try to talk to Fíli and Kíli again, perhaps even get them to teach him some of the sign language. He'd already picked a little up, from what he'd seen the others so, and was curious to the idea of learning more.

"You want _us _to teach you?" was Kíli's incredulous reply. He earned a whack around the head from Fíli in return, and bent over muttering what sounded like curses.

"We'll teach you the useful stuff," said the blond, ignoring his brother completely. "But if you're really looking for decent instruction, I'd go to Ori. He's better at normal Iglishmêk than we are."

"Yes, I was talking to Balin about that," Bilbo said hurriedly. "But Ori's a bit shy, and I don't want to press him."

"Can't argue with that one. Alright, we'll try, but don't expect anything grand."

So Bilbo learnt some Iglishmêk, slowly and with much deliberation between the brothers as to what was and wasn't their own. Sometimes they even dragged another Dwarf aside, usually Dori or Ori, to double check that they were teaching the Hobbit the right signs. Bilbo was a quick study, and although Kíli was a horrible teacher, Fíli had more patience and clearer gestures.

Occasionally Gandalf would check on them, especially during the times when they were riding, and offer his little tips here and there. He denied having much knowledge of the language, only little pieces he'd picked up 'here and there, there and here', but despite this claim Bilbo didn't quite believe him.

"Facial expressions often don't detract from whatever you're saying," Fíli explained one cloudy afternoon. "Usually you can get across a lot of meaning in them, but if you can't see the other person then it doesn't matter as much." Kíli made a few exaggerated gestures with his hands while looking comically angered, as if to illustrate the point.

One thumb pointing to the chest – _I._

All fingers flicked up – _am. _

Hand pulled in, making a claw shape – _unknown. _

"I am angry?" Bilbo asked, assuming that Kíli's expression was the meaning of the final word.

Fíli nodded. "Exactly. Even if you don't know a word you can tell by the expression on the other Dwa – person's face. But, if he were to say it again," Kíli repeated the movements, his face mostly blank, "you would get exactly the same message, even without the facial cue."

Bilbo nodded, trying it out from himself. Fíli went along and taught him a few more words for good measure, simply ones like _well _and _hurt _and _confused. _For what it was worth, Kíli attempted to help as well, although his choice of words was more abstract than his brother's, and he sometimes used uncommon signs that Ori had to correct.

One morning, just as they were having their breakfast, Bilbo watched his first, fully fledged, Iglishmêk conversation. Unfortunately, it was an argument, and between Kíli and Thorin, no less. Perhaps they didn't want to annoy the company with raised voices, or they were saying something that was to be kept mostly private, but whatever it was, it was clearly an argument. Kíli's gestures were sharp and rapidly fast, blurring somewhat in his sight as Bilbo tried to guess where one sign ended and another began.

Thorin, for his part, was slower and more defined, but no less sharp and angry. His anger was a simmering thing, one that made itself known subtly and strongly, unlike Kíli who was all boiling fury and jagged edges.

He sidled up next to Balin once again, pointing discreetly at the two. "What are they arguing about, if I'm allowed to ask?"

Balin glanced over then turned back to his bootlaces. "Ah, the laddie's gone and done something stupid again. Exploring while on watch, by the looks of it. Thorin will put up with a lot from those two, but it's the little things that set him off, especially in times like these. I'm surprised his brother isn't getting yelled at either, to be honest."

"It's not exactly yelling, though, is it?" Bilbo's question was only half rhetorical.

"It's fairly close to the equivalent, lad." Balin sighed and shook his head. "That one was never given much common sense, but sometimes I really do wonder if he was dropped one too many times on the head."

Suddenly, Bilbo saw Fíli appear on the edge of his sightline, making a path towards the arguing duo. He seemed equally as furious, but he couldn't tell who it was aimed at – Kíli, or Thorin.

The answer came soon enough. Once Thorin had finished berating Kíli, and Kíli had finished talking back to Thorin – because Bilbo knew unheeding stubbornness when he saw it – Fíli grabbed his brother by the arm and hissed something in his ear that made the other's face whiten dramatically.

"It must have been pretty stupid for Fíli to become angry at him," Bilbo commented quietly.

Balin nodded. "More stupid than usual, at least. Fíli's used to his brother by now, he's been at nearly all of his stupid decisions, but this one must have been on a grander scale than most. Don't worry, though, Kíli's nothing if not resilient."

"And stubborn," Bilbo added.

"It's a Durin thing."

There were no Iglishmêk lessons that day. Fíli and Kíli weren't on speaking terms with one another, Fíli riding up the front conversing seriously to Thorin and Kíli riding at the back, face still pale and nodding along to Ori's chatter.

"Don't worry," Gandalf said, appearing at Bilbo's side and giving him a minor heart attack. He peered down his long nose at the Hobbit and smiled slightly. "I can assure you that this will blow over by the end of the day. I may not have known them for very long, but I can guarantee that Fíli will have forgiven Kíli by sundown."

"Good," said Bilbo matter-of-factly. "I don't like it when people argue, and I do want to continue my sign language lessons."

"That, I would not count on. Perhaps ask Ori to teach you – those two won't be."

Bilbo looked up at him. "Oh? Why not? Is that what they were arguing about?"

"No, but I think Fíli wants to have a rather long talk to his brother about it, and it may be a sore spot for a while." Gandalf let out a little chuckle. "Kíli has some lessons to learn in being discreet."

"But no one can understand their signs anyway, can they?"

"Discretion is not always about speech and communication. Actions, after all, speak louder than words."

"What did he do?"

Gandalf glanced up at the backs of Thorin and Fíli before checking behind him for Kíli. "Kíli had a lapse in judgement yesterday during the night, and might just have nearly gotten himself in a rather precarious position. Luckily for him, Fíli went off to look for him. Unluckily, Fíli was not impressed and promptly told Thorin all about it this morning."

"But what did he do?"

"He fell out of a tree and broke his ankle."

Bilbo stared up at the Wizard, disbelief colouring his features. "How do you just casually fall out of a tree and break your ankle?"

Gandalf shrugged. "From what I have gathered, Kíli thought he heard something while on watch. He duly notified his brother that he was going off to search for the source, a wise move on his part, and set off. He must have been unable to locate it, and so climbed a tree to better see the surroundings. It is only too easy to fall out of these trees, they are deceptively fragile." He reached up with his staff and poked one above them, making the branch shake.

"Then Fíli found him and brought him back?"

"So I gather."

Bilbo shook his head disbelievingly. "That's ridiculous."

"So is Kíli, just quietly. He means well, but he was not born with a lot of common sense."

"And what has any of that got to do with discretion?"

"Breaking your ankle is not a brilliant way to keep an unauthorised expedition quiet," Gandalf replied with a chuckle. "Those two will be the death of each other, they really will."

"It's a Durin thing," replied Bilbo, quoting Balin. The Dwarf was wiser than he'd thought.

"That it is."

Fíli and Kíli were indeed on speaking terms again by that night. It had happened seemingly randomly, and Bilbo had been lucky in that he had caught them apologising. In Iglishmêk, no less.

One finger pointing at listener – _you._

All fingers flicked out – _are._

One thumb extended upwards, four fingers together and pointing at listener – _well._

Shake of hand – _question._

'Are you well?'

One thumb pointing to speaker's chest – _I._

All fingers flicked out – _am._

Sharp jerk of entire hand, flicking outwards – _fine. Connotation of irritation._

'I'm fine.'

One thumb pointing to speaker's chest – _I._

All fingers flicked out – _am._

One hand pressed to left breast, flipped over towards the listener – _sorry._

Clenched fist – _emphasis._

'I'm really sorry.'

Silence.

One thumb pointing to speaker's chest – _I._

Forefinger pressed to the side of the speaker's nose – _know._

Silence.

Kíli raised his hand hesitantly, as if unsure whether or not to sign, but Fíli simply sighed and rode up next to him, casually draping his arm around the brunette's shoulders in a lazy display of affection. Kíli sighed in relief.

Bilbo smiled, glancing over and noticing that Balin had been watching the entire conversation as well. He nodded, and the Dwarf nodded back, eyes twinkling much like Gandalf's did.

"I take it you understood that?" Balin asked. The question wasn't only about the little exchange.

"Yes," he replied. "Most of it."

A few minutes later, Kíli was beside him again, Fíli's arm still around his shoulders. "You know," he began as if nothing had happened, "I didn't get an answer for that question. What do Hobbits use for underpinning?"

Bilbo smiled. "You know, I haven't the faintest idea."

He had to stifle a smile when Kíli pouted, but it sprang out anyway when Fíli pointed it out and got a fist to the shoulder in response. Fíli then made a gesture with his hands which was most definitely _not _Iglishmêk, and Bilbo outright laughed.

Suddenly he felt the duo's eyes upon him, and he froze up. "What? Did I do something wrong?"

Fíli eyed him thoughtfully. "You know, I don't think I've heard you laugh before," he said slowly, as if deducing a difficult conclusion. "What would you say, Kíli?"

The younger shook his head. "Nope, no, definitely never heard it before."

"What a pity that is."

"It's quite a nice laugh, isn't it?"

They looked at him, then nodded. "You're going to laugh more," they said in sync, serious looks upon their faces.

Bilbo just laughed, and listened to them banter. Perhaps adventuring wasn't so bad, after all.

**A/N: I should probably be working on 'From Pebbles to Stones', but this wanted to be written, and who am I do deny a muse? It's a little meandering, but I hope you enjoyed it if you got this far! This **_**was**_** originally meant just to be a little foray into the topic of sign language, but…it got a little out of hand. If you don't understand any of the carpentry references, sorry about that. I take carpentry at school, and I'm not sure as to what is and isn't common knowledge on the subject.**

**I obviously do not own the Tolkien estate, and this is purely hypothesis and conjunction. Don't be afraid to drop me a review to tell me how I did!**

**- Bronwyn**


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